Knights return with tourney title in Vegas

Junior forward April Sykes paced the Knights offensively with a
combined 37 points in a pair of wins over Pacific and Oregon State
in the Lady Rebel Round-Up.

LAS VEGAS — It was a happy Thanksgiving weekend for the Rutgers
women's basketball team, as the Scarlet Knights traveled west for
the second time in three weeks.

But this time the result was a little different.

After a convincing 71-39 win over Pacific Friday, the Knights
faced an Oregon State team the next day that gave Rutgers all it
could handle early on. The Knights eventually came away with a
65-52 victory to win the Hyatt Place Lady Rebel Round-Up, the
second straight holiday tournament win for Rutgers after winning
last year's Paradise Jam.

The first half saw seven lead changes along with five ties, as
Rutgers (4-2) trailed Oregon State (4-2) at the half, 33-30.

Photo: Jared Miller

Sophomore forward Monique Oliver scored in double figures in
both Rutgers wins this weekend in her hometown of Las Vegas, but
the Knights' backcourt was outrebounded, 80-67, in the
tournament.

But the Knights came out firing in the second half and forced
the Beavers into mistakes with the 55-press, opening with a 16-0
run. Oregon State never came back within six points.

"We weren't pressing at the beginning and we needed to step it
up, so we started going to our 55 defense and it always kind of
fuels our fire," said head coach C. Vivian Stringer.

Junior forward April Sykes earned tournament MVP honors, as she
led Rutgers in scoring both nights, registering 18 against the
Beavers and scoring 19 the night before versus Pacific.

"They might not have been — they were," said Sykes on the two
games possibly being the two best of her career. "I just think that
I was relaxed and my teammates Nikki Speed and Khadijah [Rushdan]
did a great job of getting me involved."

Monique Oliver, a Las Vegas native, came up big playing in her
hometown for the first time, scoring 16 points — 12 in the first
half — along with a career-best six blocks and four steals against
the Beavers.

The Knights' weekend started out on Friday, when terrific
defense and great ball movement on offense lifted Rutgers to an
easy 71-39 victory over Pacific (2-3) in the opening round of the
tournament.

Rutgers completely dominated the first half in all areas of the
game, leading Pacific, 38-11, at the half and holding the Tigers to
just 3-of-23 shooting from the field, as well as forcing 15
turnovers. The Knights continued their great play in the second
half, when they led by as many as 41 points (65-24) at one juncture
of the game.

Sykes catapulted the offense for Rutgers, going 8-of-12 shooting
from the field to lead the charge offensively.

"I thought [Sykes] was really relaxed and calm,"
Stringer said. "She didn't seem to be rushing
things. She stayed in a flow and let the ball come to her. We have
to have everyone know what that feels like. It was great for us and
for April and I like that the team is unselfish."

Sykes was just one of four players for Rutgers to score in
double figures, as Rushdan (14), Oliver (13), and Chelsey Lee (10)
all also reached the double-digit mark.

Knights had great ball movement and shared the basketball,
totaling 19 assists for the game, led by Nikki Speed's eight.

"I think what we're seeing at least through these five games
that we've played is that they have demonstrated that they're
unselfish and they're willing to make the extra pass," Stringer
said. "They had some beautiful passes. It just flowed and that was
good."

Rutgers held Pacific to just 22.3 percent shooting for the game
and forced a total of 28 turnovers. The win improved Rutgers to 2-0
all-time against Pacific. The 32-point margin of victory was the
largest for the Knights since an 84-49 victory last November over
Kean.

Rutgers returns to action again on Wednesday, when they travel
to Philadelphia to take on Temple hoping that their great play
doesn't stay in Vegas.